Be careful-Petrol stations in France

[Diavel]

Just wanted to share some info on a recent trip from the UK to Italy. Be careful when you are filling up in France if you use the automated payment facility. This asks you to enter your credit or debit card details then authorises an amount. Even if you ask for a receipt these are often not available so you have no proof of the amount of petrol you put into the bike. This has happened to me last year and this year where fictional fill ups are added to the real fill up.In this case it was the main supermarket at Cite Europe in Coquelles/Eurotunnel where the actual amount was charged to my debit card but then an extra transaction amount of Euros 128 was shown as pending for the same station.This happened twice.This pending amount is deducted from your available balance with your bank and, in my case, the amounts just disappeared after a week. But what if it had not disappeared? Now I choose to use the payment to the cashier where possible or take a screenshot of the pump for future reference

[Mareng1]

A quick photo of the pump to be cautious - and a handy reckoner at the end of your trip.

It occurs in UK now also - but the £99 comes back off quicker (possibly as fast as 1 hour?)

[RyanGTXR]

It's been the case for years, they don't just "authorise" the maximum amount, they can take it, then eventually refund the difference.

[wessie]

Use a credit card as the preauthorized amount is not your money...

[Mareng1]

Originally Posted by wessie

Use a credit card as the preauthorized amount is not your money...

Absolutely.   and on a no fee one.   

But - if there is a chance of spurious debits, I think taking a photo at each fill-up is a sensible approach

[Winger]

My darling wife who gets off the bike to pay… having just read the above tells me yep same as above or cash,been like it for years….it’s just caused a domestic  as our Euro miles are probably double anything we do in the UK and I didn’t know 

[bobdave]

I use a prepaid debit card that I preload and have had situations where they have taken a holding fee of €100 and not put it back onto the card until 48 hours later which has left me with insufficient funds on the card. I now have 2 prepaid debit cards so I can alternate between them when fueling at the pumps which require an auto payment (i.e. no cashier to take the exact payment). Bit of a pain but it does allow me to ensure that I can get fuel. To be fair I have never had a situation where they have not put the holding fee back onto the card albeit a couple of days for them to do so.

[wessie]

Originally Posted by bobdave

I use a prepaid debit card that I preload and have had situations where they have taken a holding fee of €100 and not put it back onto the card until 48 hours later which has left me with insufficient funds on the card. I now have 2 prepaid debit cards so I can alternate between them when fueling at the pumps which require an auto payment (i.e. no cashier to take the exact payment). Bit of a pain but it does allow me to ensure that I can get fuel. To be fair I have never had a situation where they have not put the holding fee back onto the card albeit a couple of days for them to do so.

any reason why you do not have something like the Halifax Clarity card. A card aimed at overseas travellers. No transaction fees, credit card so the pre-authorisation is held on your credit limit not your cash and if there is fraud or any other problem, you have much better protection. I put all my hotel and fuel onto such a card then if there is a dodgy transaction I can query it when I get home as I have yet to pay the bill.

[bobdave]

When I took out my prepaid debit cards they were offering a better exchange rate on most foreign currencies hence I opted for them and have been happy with them but I hear what you are saying Wessie and I guess I should look at Halifax and the Nationwide credit cards which both offer no transaction fees on foreign currency transactions.

[af1-windy]

Originally Posted by wessie

any reason why you do not have something like the Halifax Clarity card. A card aimed at overseas travellers. No transaction fees, credit card so the pre-authorisation is held on your credit limit not your cash and if there is fraud or any other problem, you have much better protection. I put all my hotel and fuel onto such a card then if there is a dodgy transaction I can query it when I get home as I have yet to pay the bill.

This is really good info, I just applied and was accepted for the Halifax Clarity Card, £8k limit, err, where can I get to with that? 

Seriously thought, I'll use this for future trips.. Cheers Wessie